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Mid-February 2014 Outbreak
This tornado outbreak occurred during the midday of Valentines' Day of 2014, progressing in 22 extra hours the next day, combining into about thirty-two hours of duration. In that time, thirty-five confirmed tornadoes struck 7 states, especially Florida and Georgia in particular, which combined got sixteen out of thirty-five tornadoes combined, with 11 in Florida and five in Georgia. The other states impacted were also part of the East and Gulf Coasts, being Alabama {2 tornadoes, both coincidentally ranked EF2}, extreme southern Mississippi {4 tornadoes}, alongside the Carolinas {ironically got 5 tornadoes each}, and Lousiana {3 tornadoes}. This outbreak included four EF3s and 6 EF2s, and ultimately killed thirty-three people, with about 400 others injured. Meteorological Synopsis SPC Predictions On February 13th, 2014, at approximately 9:45 PM Eastern Standard Time, the SPC issued a marginal risk for north-northwestern Florida, southern and Central Georgia, and issued a separate slight risk in South Carolina, eventually getting larger 6 hours later including most of the southwestern parts of North Carolina. The next day, at approximately 7:30 AM, just over 6 hours before the outbreak started, an Enhanced Risk was issued for most of Georgia, alongside parts of Alabama, and a Moderate Risk was confirmed for northern Florida and a separate Moderate Risk was at cue for the Carolinas, and most of the outbreak area was Marginal to Enhanced Risk for the rest of the weekend. Summary Eventually, it turned into a tornado outbreak, although with a fairly low spawn rate for a widespread outbreak, severe thunderstorms with hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter and flooding in some areas killed an additional ninety-one people, 83 from the floods, and eight from the straight-line winds and hail, with "only" 33 out of 124 confirmed fatalities from this storm associated with tornadoes themselves. Notable Tornadoes February 14th At least 5 notable tornadoes were confirmed on February 14th. Blacksburg, SC This cone tornado formed about 12 miles east of northern Blacksburg, moving southwest at approximately 55 miles per hour, and intensified rapidly. It quickly took on the form of a multi-vortex semi-wedge tornado, and was up to nearly 1.5 miles wide at some point. A Doppler on Wheels recorded its wind speeds to be up to 208 miles {or 334km} per hour at approximately 2:22 PM EST--just 6 minutes after the twister touched the ground. It weakened significantly before reaching Blacksburg, down to EF3 levels of wind speeds, at approximately 2:29 PM, just a few minutes before dying down. Despite the fact that residents took shelter 42 minutes before the tornado struck, meaning a 29-minute warning before the actual tornado formed, and had 5 minutes to get underground after a Tornado Emergency was issued for the entire city of Blacksburg, several people were still seriously injured or killed. At least 36 homes in Blacksburg were destroyed, with 159 damaged, and nearly 75 cars totaled. This tornado died out just 3 minutes after exiting Blacksburg, and left a path of destruction 14.6 miles long up to 1.44 miles wide. Alongside 67 injuries, at least 7 people were killed in the Blacksburg tornado. This well-built brick house you can see in this photo is where two teenage brothers, ages 18 and 14 respectively, were killed when a wall collapsed in their bathroom, killing them instantly. The mother of the brothers was also killed by that tornado in her car shortly after the house was leveled. This was the strongest tornado in the northern South Carolina plains, and was quite possibly, in the mayor's words, "the closest call involving any storm since 2008." In total, at least $34 million in damage was confirmed, alongside two subdivisions either leveled or destroyed. Blacksburg, SC {byproduct} WIP